Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that attacks from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are inspiring death threats against him.
Swalwell told MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace on “Deadline: White House” that McCarthy plans to remove him from his committee assignments for “political vengeance.”
Swalwell has emerged as a particularly controversial individual among House Republicans over his connection to a suspected Chinese spy during his 2014 reelection campaign, which became public in 2020.
Swalwell ended his ties with the Chinese national when the FBI informed him of her identity, but Republicans have called for him to be removed from sensitive committee assignments and accused him of jeopardizing national security.
McCarthy reiterated a promise to prevent Swalwell and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) from joining the House Intelligence Committee last week.
“If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn’t have Swalwell on any committee,” McCarthy said.
But Swalwell has repeatedly rejected the accusation that he is compromised, including in the interview on Wednesday. He said the FBI has said on multiple occasions that he was never suspected of wrongdoing and only helped them with their investigation.
He also noted a Washington Post report that gave McCarthy four “Pinocchios” for his claims, providing a fact-check to his accusations. He added that McCarthy continuing to make these claims despite them being false is leading to threats against him and his family.
“It inspires these death threats. People parrot what Kevin McCarthy is saying when they call and make the threats,” Swalwell said.
He said he has told McCarthy about his concerns in person and through public forums but said McCarthy has not been interested in hearing him. He said McCarthy has wanted to continue to carry out the “vengeance” he has promised.
Many Republicans were incensed after Democrats voted to remove Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) from their committee assignments during the last Congress while Democrats held the majority in the House.
Swalwell said one person recently told him that they wanted to “rape and kill” his children and used similar language that McCarthy has used in his accusations.
“There is a cost to all of this,” he said.
Swalwell said in August that a staffer of his received a call from a man who threatened to kill the congressman with an assault rifle at his office. He blamed McCarthy and former President Trump for being “architects” of the “violent times” that the American people live in.